Need Advice for Motorcycle Test

[JeepWJ19]

Hey all, so I have my permit and have been riding A LOT since I got my '02 Honda CBR 600F4i back in the last week week of July.

Since I have college I could not take the Motorcycle Safety Course with my father (darn you Physics lab) so I thought I would just take the motorcycle test at the DMV.

I can pass everything easily except the figure 8. It's a 16' wide box, some states have something similar to it. I have been practicing and practicing and cannot get it down with the CBR. For the Safety Course putting your foot down only results in reduction of points but for the drivers test at the dmv, if you put your foot down it is an automatic fail so I cannot afford to do that.

I've tried:
1. walking the bike in 1st, then a little before the turn slow down to almost stop and then slight acceleration with some clutch play through the turn - nope, foot down
2. using 2nd gear and crawling almost to a dead stop before the turn then slightly applying power through the turn using the clutch. Have also tried keeping my foot on the back brake and slightly applying it

I'm also making sure I look through the turn as I'm doing these but either my foot comes down from too slow and bike leaning too far or my turn is too wide and my front tire goes completely over the boundary line.

Is there a technique I'm missing or could try or is it that I'm just not practicing enough?

I've heard others say that they couldn't do it and just blew through it without putting their foot down and just took the deduction in points instead of completely failing this. I'd rather not do that lol.

Thanks.

 

[AIRJAC3]

I stayed in first during my figure 8. The only thing I can say is make sure you look as far ahead as you can when you are turning. I think I grazed the boundary line but didn't cross or put my foot down. You have to just trust your bike's momentum because there is a point where you think the bike is going to tip but you keep it going a little longer. Try not to think about turning but think about keeping your bike going forward.

Good luck.

 

[DuckRyder]

FWIW.

An older post on the PAFOA says they open the box up 2' if you take it on your own bike.

 

[BrocLuno]

Go rent a small bike. Leave the CBR at home. Borrow a Honda 90 Trail Bike. You could ride figure 8's inside the examiners boot on one

 

[tomcat27]

go rent or borrow a smaller bike. also remember to use the friction zone of the clutch - engage it only partially - it does not have to be released all the way - that way you can move slower.

 

[HerrStig]

Originally Posted By: BrocLuno
Go rent a small bike. Leave the CBR at home. Borrow a Honda 90 Trail Bike. You could ride figure 8's inside the examiners boot on one

This^

 

[Robenstein]

Yep...we didn't have figure 8's when I took it in Iowa. We just had to weave through cones, do a 180 turnaroud in abox, and do an accelleration and brake withing a certain distance. But the lot was all degraded asphalt and had sand on it. So I rented a 100cc scooter for the test. Glad I did, because the other gent with me that day laid down his brand new Ninja when he hit a patch of sand on the turnaround.

 

[Silk]

Not just looking through the turn, but right out the otherside - you need to look at the exit. When I first started riding observed trials 35 years ago, doing a tight turn (much tighter than anything you could do on a street bike) I would always run wide, even with the forks jammed on the stops. With advice from experienced riders, I snapped my head right round as far as it could go, and would clear the marker by 2 feet. Don't look where you are going, look where you want to go.

 

[WANG]

Learn to slip the clutch against the back brake. This will stabilize the motorcycle greatly and allow you to crawl through feet up full lock turns.

 

[JeepWJ19]

Thanks everyone.

When I say I'm looking through the term, I mean that I am looking where I want to go. I thought that was unambiguous.

I really don't know where I can rent a bike around here.

That's interesting if they allow that extra 2' because I brought my own bike. If they give me that extra 2' then I can surely get it.

 

[JetStar]

Good advice offered by all here. Don't forget to let your body pivot at low speeds, along with finding the friction zone, not target fixating (look where you want to go). Practice, practice, practice.

There might be some good advice here.
https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=motorcycle+figure+8+tutorial

Even though I have been riding for years, I still need to practice slow speed maneuvers since it is something I don't do often.

I wish I were this good.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M9MVY8swO5M

 

[02SE]

Originally Posted By: JetStar

I wish I were this good.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M9MVY8swO5M



I've helped teach slow-speed maneuvers in advanced Motorcycle riding classes. As mentioned, becoming attuned to a bikes clutch friction zone, and working that in coordination with rear brake application, (and the front as speeds pick up) is key. I've done those tight cone courses on Police Harley's, BMW's, Concours, and various other bikes. The Harley's with their low center of gravity, off-idle torque, and floorboards are some of the easiest to maneuver like that.

All of the Motor Officers on the Department where my best friend worked, were required to be able to ride that proficiently, before they could become a regular part of the Motor Squad.

Lots of practice and ability is required to become proficient. Some never do get it, despite putting in the practice time.

 

[alarmguy]

Its easy to overthink it, more so the pressure of knowing your taking a test.

Take a deep breath, 1st gear only, use the rear brake to stabilize the bike.

More or less, heck, you may not be able to put your foot down but you should be able to keep it in first with enough throttle and "ride" the rear brake to slow up and speed up keeping throttle constant. More or less, almost like driving your car with the emergency brake on.
(kind of like the post above this one)

 

[Jarlaxle]

Counterintuitively, I found it helped to go a bit FASTER.

 

[Atesz792]

Also, on real slow turns, you should lean the bike as you would anyways, but lean your torso in the other direction.
This will allow you to lean the bike more than your speed would enable had you leaned together with the bike.
Hence, the radius of the bend can be smaller.

 

[LoneRanger]

Probably the righthand turning portion that gets you. It's always the slow speed crawling Right Hand turns that demand more finesse.

 

[donnyj08]

Originally Posted By: HerrStig
Originally Posted By: BrocLuno
Go rent a small bike. Leave the CBR at home. Borrow a Honda 90 Trail Bike. You could ride figure 8's inside the examiners boot on one

This^


+1 the figure 8 is nearly impossible with a supersport because you have limited steering lock to lock. It's an unnatural way to ride a bike, with how tight you have to navigate. I got a 100% with a FZ6R sport touring bike, but I practiced for weeks in empty parking lots.

 

[slug_bug]

Don't go too slow. I found that adding a little speed just before the turn helped. Add the speed with the clutch, not the throttle. Try to keep the throttle constant and use the clutch friction zone to add speed. That's what worked for me anyway.

 

[beanoil]

You have the basics down, looking through, throttle control, slip the clutch. You have to lean the opposite way in low speed turns. It goes counter to what feel right, but leaning your upper body left in a RH turn pivots the bike under you more, and balances gravity pull. I have not heard anyone mention dragging the rear brake slightly. That can help stabilize the bike because you will have to add power and lean more to overcome the drag. Turning is about balancing gravity, centrifugal force and fear. Lots of YT videos available to demo the technique.
The bike is way better than you are, even a full dress HD can make that test successfully. Practice, practice and more practice!
A 16 foot wide box is enough for anything, I did my test on an R1100RT. You can do it, after you talk yourself out of not being able to. It almost sounds like you have conditioned yourself to expect to dab a foot, and keep recreating the scenario.
Good luck, you'll get it, and use it more than you expect in the real world.

 

[02SE]

Originally Posted By: beanoil
You have the basics down, looking through, throttle control, slip the clutch. You have to lean the opposite way in low speed turns. It goes counter to what feel right, but leaning your upper body left in a RH turn pivots the bike under you more, and balances gravity pull. I have not heard anyone mention dragging the rear brake slightly. That can help stabilize the bike because you will have to add power and lean more to overcome the drag. Turning is about balancing gravity, centrifugal force and fear. Lots of YT videos available to demo the technique.
The bike is way better than you are, even a full dress HD can make that test successfully. Practice, practice and more practice!
A 16 foot wide box is enough for anything, I did my test on an R1100RT. You can do it, after you talk yourself out of not being able to. It almost sounds like you have conditioned yourself to expect to dab a foot, and keep recreating the scenario.
Good luck, you'll get it, and use it more than you expect in the real world.


Several people, including me, mentioned it.